Posted by Melissa Anelli

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With the December 1 premiere of GoFgrowing ever-closer, there’s plenty of news from Australia today! The Sydney Morning Herald has a story about the darker tone of children’s and family films in general, and the HP films in particular.

“In many ways, the blackening tone of the Potter movies is simply a reflection of the books on which they are based. As her protagonist and audience grow older, J.K. Rowling is introducing more challenging material to keep them interested. But Goblet of Fire is also part of a wider cinematic trend. As Hollywood tries to stem the slide in box-office revenues, more children’s films are using big-budget special effects and tougher story-lines to attract a wider audience.”

“Denny Lawrence, chairman of the Australian Film Institute, agrees that children’s films are becoming darker and more challenging. In many cases, he says, it’s simply because filmmakers are being faithful to their source material books – ranging from The Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – that are full of ‘dark undercurrents.’
But Lawrence also believes today’s young audiences want edgier films. Bombarded by news and current affairs and engaging with computer games that are full of violence, they expect stories and images that mirror their world.

‘The kind of things we used to think we could protect our children from are in their faces all the time,’ he says. ‘Kids grow up more quickly and filmmakers, some of whom are pretty young themselves, are reflecting that.’”

Dan Radcliffe weighs in on the subject in this article, also from The Age.